Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attends a press event of the Elders in Seoul in this May 31 photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The world is changing more rapidly than ever before. Brilliant technological developments are enhancing human values, whereas prosperity is deepening chronic inequality between rich and poor countries. Plagued by a pandemic, climate crisis and war, humankind is confronted with a long list of problems growing ever heavier.

Pax Americana has been a mainstay of the global order since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is being challenged by China. The newly rising sun is stepping up alliances with Russia and North Korea, while Donald Trump is rumbling into the Washington establishment again. The plutocrat may dance to the communist's tune if he can get more votes and fill his own wallet and those of his supporters.

Can U.S. President Joe Biden beat his predecessor's bitter attack? Can the capitalist ties between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo work together against the Pyongyang-Beijing-Moscow triangle, armed with nuclear missiles, dictatorships and geographic proximity? The list of problems facing South Koreans, and perhaps Americans and other peace-loving people, is also growing.

"The old specter of armed conflicts is lingering here and there and Russia's aggression toward Ukraine is showing no sign of armistice. No global leaders are seen who are determined to address international confrontations. No head of state has global visions, and world peace and common prosperity is at danger," former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Oct. 6.

"All of them are national leaders at best."

That's why he still spends about half of a year abroad even after he retired from the No. 1 post at the world body. That's why he established the Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizenship in Vienna, Austria, in 2018 and the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for a Better Future in Seoul the following year. This year, he established another office of Ban Ki-moon Foundation in New York, where the U.N. is headquartered.

Furthermore, he is leading several international organizations, such as the Global Green Growth Institute in Seoul, the BOAO Forum for Asia in China, the Global Center on Adaptation in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the Ethics Commission of the IOC, and the Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela, where former global leaders work for peace, security, and human rights.

"I will devote all that I have to my dreams and visions. The 10-year experience at the U.N. is a public asset I have to share with the people around the world," he said. "Through the global service, I had mapped out milestone projects for climate crisis solutions, sustainable growth and human rights and I am confident that tangible achievements have been coming out one after another."

He continued, "I will speak out my opinion on global issues in straightforward and bold terms. I will fly anywhere if my presence is of any significance. I will meet anyone with whom I can share hopes and courage."

He just returned from the United States where he met his successor and other global leaders in New York and chaired the World Culture Festival in Washington, D.C. He then flew to France to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shows framed remarks of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his photo taken with junior Red Cross representatives at the Rose Garden of the White House on Aug. 29, 1962. The former president's younger brother, Senator Edward Kennedy, called on Ban in New York on Oct. 6, 2006 to present the frame as an expression of congratulations for his appointment to the "all-important new mission" as the new U.N. chief. Ban still has a vivid memory of the date and the scene in 1962 that set the path of the life he leads today. Courtesy of Kim Chang-young

Personal life aligns with Korea's history

Ban was born in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, in 1944, one year before Korea was liberated from Japan. One year later, the U.S. motivated the formation of the U.N. with the ardent but difficult mission of maintaining peace, supporting sustainable development and protecting human rights. Some of his early memories include the sounds of bombs exploding that had been fired by North Korean invaders.

North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel in 1950, just several days after his sixth birthday. They ravaged the South until the U.N. forces arrived on the Korean Peninsula to push them back. But the battles turned in favor of the aggressors again with the sudden intervention of an over 500,000-strong Chinese force in the winter of 1951.

"My family fled from Cheongju to seek shelter in a remote village. It was very hard to walk the 27 kilometers with a bag on my back in the freezing cold," he said. "Much harder to endure was the labor pain of my mother who was nine months pregnant. On the way to her parents' home, my mom entered into a house and gave birth to a daughter thanks to the totally unknown villagers there."

He felt the warm hospitality of strangers even in the middle of war. His family returned home after the U.N. Command led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed in Incheon and drove the communist troops out of the South in the spring. It was the U.N.'s first military intervention since its inception.

Ban was a filial, bright and diligent student. He was picked as speaker at the age of 12 in a student rally to read a message sent to then-U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold to renounce Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution and call for the protection of children, peace and democracy.

A more dramatic chance came six years later in August 1962 when he was chosen among the four top high school students representing Korea in the Visit of International Students to America (VISTA) program under the sponsorship of the American Red Cross. The program was highlighted with the meeting of then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy at the White House.

"President Kennedy called the names of the 42 countries from which junior Red Cross representatives came. When he called out ‘South Korea,' it rang like thunder in my ears and my heart almost exploded in excitement," he said.

"It was clear that he held high expectations for us. Listening to his remarks, I thought that we are one human family beyond national boundaries. President Kennedy said that only one question matters: ‘Whether you are ready to extend a helping hand.' He defined my duty and the path of my life," Ban said, recalling the president who teamed up the Peace Corps with young American volunteers to serve the people of underdeveloped countries.

It was not only a great honor for a boy who had never met even the mayor of his small hometown but a historical moment that led to his long and tough journey to the helm of the U.N. It also gave him a wonderful chance to meet a high school girl who presented small gifts, prepared by her classmates for him to be used during his U.S. trip. The 18-year-old girl, named Yoo Soon-taek, later became his wife.

As the old Korean saying goes, mountains and rivers changed several times over the decades of the industrialization and democratization process in South Korea. But the North changed little other than its leadership which changed twice: from founder Kim Il-sung to his son Jong-il and his grandson Jong-un.

As soon as then-South Korean Foreign Minister Ban won the final election for the U.N. post on Oct. 2, 2006 in New York and the news came to be known one day later here, the North stole the show by announcing that it would test-fire a nuclear bomb. It shocked the world by putting the notice into action on the day when the U.N. Security Council members elected him unanimously one week later.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers his last speech as the head of the world organization at U.N. headquarters in New York in this Dec. 12, 2016 photo. AP-Yonhap

Helping hand

At least one more thing that has not changed despite the long lapse of time is Ban's early determination to "extend a helping hand" to people in need around the world.

Russia and China sometimes ignored the U.N. charter and belligerent states and hostile regimes violated peace treaties from time to time, but he ran to the conflict spots, putting his life at stake. The areas he visits upon arriving at the sites are reservations for children and women even after he quit the world body.

Actually, his position at the U.N. has long been the world's riskiest position. The acronym of secretary general has been ridiculed sometimes to stand for "scapegoat" in the diplomatic quarters since the first Secretary-General Trygve Lie from Norway resigned largely due to the vigorous protest of the Soviet Union after the Security Council passed a resolution to stop North Korean aggression.

"More than 734 million people barely survive far below the poverty line in the world. Many of them are babies and children. They go to bed hungry as if it were normal," he said. "Poverty is one crucial reason for conflict. Underdevelopment destroys social communities. We have to chart out concrete plans for worldwide economic stability."

South Korea had similar experience of poverty decades ago.

"‘When their labor pain begins, women gaze at their rubber shoes wondering whether they can put them on again.' I couldn't understand what mom meant when she told me this as a refugee with a newborn infant on her back. At that time, unfortunate women died in childbirth as clinics were too far away and doctors were rare," he said.

While in office, he put priority on expanding opportunities for women in and outside the U.N. He set up the U.N. entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women ― UN Women ― in the level of ministry to empower women within the organization and around the world. In appreciation of his commitment, the Asia Initiative, a private organization in New York, founded the "Ban Ki-moon Awards for Women's Empowerment" in 2017.

He cited honesty, sincerity and resilience as some attributes that have made him who he is today, while former British Prime Minister Tony Blair pointed to his ambition, tenacity, patience and humanity as the factors that nurtured him to become a "true public servant, whose compassion shines throughout" his life. Ban says he owes 65 percent of his accomplishments to his wife and only 35 percent to himself.

Kim Chang-young worked for The Korea Times for 15 years before he assumed the posts of vice spokesman and spokesman of political parties and later served as deputy minister for public relations at the Prime Minister's Office. He is an author of several Korean works and has translated books including Bob Woodward's "Bush at War" and "Plan of Attack."